In my opinion, we're here to be happy; we're here to work hard; we're here to do the right thing; and we're here to save our planet. And I think that we can achieve it.
— Diane Guerrero
We have to educate our communities about the immigration system and dispel the myths that have been fed to us. Immigration isn't going to go away. A wall isn't going to 'solve' the issue.
Freedom has not always meant the same for everyone in this country.
If you have money, donate it. If you have time, donate that time. If you have a story to tell, share that story. There's a list of things you can do, and even educating yourself is a form of revolution in my opinion.
It is a huge myth that our voices don't matter, that our vote doesn't count.
When I've been asked in the past about my dream role, I always expressed how much I'd like to be a superhero.
We need comprehensive immigration reform so that we're not creating this cycle of poverty and depression and everything that comes with separating a family.
Since when is it good to separate a family?
I love making dishes that my mother used to make.
I feel like you can't really be truthful as an artist and empathize with the human experience unless you know your truth, and you're not living a lie.
I want to be viewed like a serious actress, and I'm afraid that people are just going to see me as the poor little girl whose parents were deported when she was 14.
I can be very moody.
I've experienced colorism in that way: where if you're lighter, then you'll potentially be accepted into society better than if you were darker-skinned.
I so desperately wanted to fit in. There was a trajectory, and obviously, our society tells us that you go to high school, you graduate, and then you go to college, and from there, you get an internship, you get a job, and some people study abroad, and there are so many things you see that you desperately want to be a part of.
I loved to sing and dance and play-act, and I always believed that my dream to become an actor would come true because my immigrant parents had taught me to believe in the American dream.
We should be a nation that welcomes immigrants, keeps families together, and ensures that everyone gets a fair day in court.
Growing up without my parents by my side is a weight I still carry today.
I remember when I was younger, older folks would say to me, 'There are three things you don't talk about at a dinner party: religion, politics, and money.' But I think the truth is quite the opposite.
I am a proud American, regardless of the fact that my parents were separated from me forcefully.
Just sharing who you are - there's so much value in that.
Even if you can't be an activist every day, when you can be, do it.
I want to live in a country where we believe in helping each other, where we see where resources are lacking.
Crazy Jane is a complex individual who always has a lot brewing. She tries to hold things together on the surface, which is something that we all try to do. She uses these different personalities to try to cope with life.
I was voted Most Happy-Go-Lucky in high school. Can you believe that? I was crying every other day by myself, but I was voted Most Optimistic and Most Likely to Have Her Own Television Talk Show.
People tell me to go back to my country, and I'm an American.
Before I cook, I always have to put on music that parents listened to while cooking. I remember waking up in the morning and seeing my dad making breakfast with music and cutting up the tomato and singing to it and just handling food with such care. So when I cook, I put on salsa, vallenato, cumbia, or anything that reminds me of Colombia.
Anybody who lives in Colombia knows that if you don't have any money - I tell you what - you don't have many options.
When you watch 'Doom Patrol,' you'll see most of the characters are trying to run away from their feelings and their emotions, and the minute they take a second and look at themselves face to face, that's when things can actually get resolved and get one step closer to peace.
I would have had a much different story to tell if I had been imprisoned after being separated from my family, without a warm bed and only the cold faces of ICE agents and the crinkly feeling of a Mylar blanket.
I think people want immigration reform. I think people want to see a path for citizenship. I don't think we as a country want to discuss this in the way we do. I don't think we want to separate families. I don't think that's part of our values.
I always wanted to, to the smallest detail, make my parents proud.
This is the kind of stuff me and my friends talk about. We sit around and drink coffee, and we're really angry: We're like, 'Where's the Latino Museum?' Where can we go with our families, where can we go with our friends to learn about our history?
Deporting asylum seekers back to violence does not reflect the values of our country.
My parents instilled a lot of American values in me. They encouraged me to work hard and told me that anything was possible for me because I was a citizen.
I know my family loves me, but the hardest part is to love myself.
I think it's always been sort of difficult for people of color to celebrate the Fourth of July and really understand what that means.
I want us to all look at ourselves and look at our stories. It doesn't matter where you come from or what journeys you've taken. Your stories matter, and they're powerful.
Sometimes I want to bury myself in bed, and I don't want anyone to know anything about me, and I don't want anyone to judge me.
Love yourself no matter who you are or where you come from.
It's disheartening to see the hate speech and the divisive behavior. But at the same time, I have to believe that smart people and good people of this country don't give in to that.
As a kid, I felt like I had no voice, felt like I had no options, and that's what drove me to this really dark place.
There are some days that I have to remind myself, and I have to give myself affirmations, and I have to go to yoga or do something nice for myself. I get nervous about putting myself out there, but I want to encourage others to use their voices, too.
I am conscious of the community that I'm representing and don't play into stereotypes.
Once I started advancing in my career, I stopped wanting to hide from my reality.
All of the characters on 'Doom Patrol' explore traumatic pasts, how to deal with those pasts, and how that affects their present and their future.
Some people have issues in their past that might make them tweak out at certain moments, but it's possible to snap back and be a real human being.
It's important that we vote, because this is how we can bring about change and bring about reform, and, honestly, I don't see Donald Trump, anything that he's saying to be effective or comprehensive. Instead of really uniting our country - we are the United States of America - he is dividing us.
I dreamed of being an artist.
We have a lot of comments on the news, we have a lot of rhetoric over what an immigrant is and what a deportee is, but you don't hear any real stories. I don't think we ever had the chance to really tell our side.
We need to be investing in resources, like Women Step Forward, to provide immigrants with trusted information about their rights and options.
